It is so hot and dry right now, that I feel the water content in my bodies is slowly vanishing just as it is everywhere else on the planet. We have stopped watering our grass to save water, and instead of green I have yellow and more yellow when I look out of my window.

This image, from Color chuck is the first cool in my day. It awakens the breeze, wets my dry mouth, and inspires me to think about water,how it feels and what it looks like, sounds like, moves like

How to capture on canvas or paper

Some art work needs to be seen up close and in person, such is the art of Jeni Spota, Who is showing in the Santa Monica Museum of Art through August 22nd. If I was in the area - I would make the effort to clear up a few hours and go and see here work. At first glance, to me it has some of the qualities of Naive art, the busyness and the continuous story often embeded in this kind of art, and the truth is that she does deal in a multi layered way in religion, resurection and more

A blurb from the Museums site

Jeni Spota brings contemporary elements to classical themes in her paintings, exploring traditional, often religious, imagery, in a new way. Through her small canvases, the viewer is able to peer into another world, watching epic scenes play out with a surreal, impressionistic twist.

Ed from I Call it Oranges says

I was immediately skeptical of Spota’s works, despite how much their apparent skill and aesthetic impact seduced me. I was smitten with the works but wondered why, I wondered where these paintings could take me and if they hold up under the pressure of their content. Could they properly dialogue with Pasolini, an extremely complicated and misunderstood figure, a person as mired in the past as he was desperately engaged in the action of the present? To cut right to it, are Spota’s works ironic? Are they unapologetically spiritual? If they are critical, what are they critical of? Is it possible to be spiritual in the arts at the moment, when the official stance seems to be the promotion of the exact opposite? Do the works try to have it both ways, presenting a religious face while undermining it at once?

This is pretty much Along my lines of thinking, and part of why I would so love to see her work up close an in person.

So - from both sides of the table, applying to a job, or on the other hand a juried art show could look like this.

Out of the two people in this picture, I must say I least envy the lady with the piles and piles of paper to go through.

You can be a fabulous fantabulous artist, but if you don’t have a good art resume - your chances of getting into shows or getting grants  and so on, are slim.

The point is - there is a person who goes through all the many resumes and portfolio’s, that has to make a decision or a choice between all the artists that sent her information, and you need to make there reading experience of your resume as pleasant and as easy as possible.

Bmoreart posted a really useful post on all the finer points of getting together a good art resume, as apposed to one that will get you nowhere - I suggest you read it.

Red Riding hood with a twist. (Slightly of topic but delightful non the less)

This is a Tex Avery cartoon from 1943.

From Wiki

 He also created a series of racy and risqué cartoons, beginning with 1943’s Red Hot Riding Hood, featuring a sexy female star who never had a set name and whose visual design and voice varied somewhat between shorts, but who influenced the minds of young boys - and future animators - worldwide.

Japonisme has yet another version called little Red Blue. Quite amusing.

According to Modern Art Obsession A New Art Investment Fund Has Been Started By Castlestone Management with offices in London and New York.  Click on the link to read full article.